Comic Business

Martin Revermann

Description

Comic Business situates Aristophanic comedy in the context of competitive (re)performance culture in 5th- and 4th-century Greece. It seeks to illuminate how the dazzling busyness of Aristophanic comedy is the creation of a carefully manipulating craftsman trying to outdo his rivals in the fierce competition of the dramatic festivals. Theoretically informed by theatre semiotics and frame-based models of conceptualizing the theatrical event, it analyzes in a number of case studies how theatrical resources of all kinds are utilized in order to generate theatrical meaning as well as capture and sustain audience interest. The approach therefore combines philological analysis with methodologies developed in Theatre Studies. Special attention is given to the visual
dimension of theatrical communication. Material from comparator traditions is brought to bear, as is the evidence of the pictorial record.

Author Information

Comic Business

Martin Revermann

Reviews and Awards

"This is a far more substantial volume than most of the monographs that have appeared in the 'school of Taplin'.... it is well worth reading, and is the only offshoot of the 'school of Taplin' that deserves to be placed by serious students of Greek drama on the same valued reference shelf as Taplin's own two books on stagecraft."--Michael Ewans, The Classical Review